Happy St. Patty's Day!

Why yes I am part Irish, what gave it away?!  When I went back to my natural hair colour after years of highlighting it to within an inch of it's life, I kept passing the mirror and thinking to myself "holy crap can you see the Irish in me now!".  This was due to the reddish brown tones mother nature gave me.  I'm English-Irish and can trace my family roots back 7 generations.  We may be dull but we're consistent.  It's only in this generation that anything other than English-Irish has entered our gene pool!  How's that for dull?!  While I live in New Scotland (Nova Scotia) I have not a lick of Scottish in me.  So today is extra special as we Irish take over Nova Scotia and call today ours. 

For dinner tonight I'm making a Shepherd's Pie.  There are lots of great recipes out there so I won't bother sharing mine.  However I did want to mention the Beef Broth.  I make mine from scratch.  It's deadly simple, way taster than store bought and healthier.  I put no salt or fat in mine, making it a neutral addition to any recipe.  I can always add more fat or salt when I use it later. 

Beef Broth
Makes 8 -12 cups

Ingredients:

• 1-2 good size beef marrow bones
• 1 rib celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 onion, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 carrot cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• 2-3 springs thyme (or about 2 tsp dried)
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• a good dash no salt added steak spice or Montreal steak spice
• Cover everything with water, to about 1/2 inch from top of pot.

Instructions:

1. Throw everything in a large soup pot.
2. Bring to a boil
3. Simmer 3-4 hours (or you can use your crock pot on high 5 -6 hours)
4. Strain the liquid, toss out all the solids as they are tasteless now.
5. Let cool, skip any fat off the top and freeze in 1 cup containers. 

I'll be using some of mine tonight to make the gravy/sauce base for my Shepherd's Pie.  I'll stir in some Worcestershire Sauce and a ketchup, about 1 tbsp each to add dimension to the flavour.  That will also up the sodium content so it's good to have that broth base be neutral..

Leftover Tips - Potatoes and Gravy

We're roundin' the corner to the holiday season. And it's time for a reminder to make good use of those leftovers. I just pulled together a quick Shepherds Pie with some goodies out of my freezer. After the holiday's you'll be grateful for any quick fixes you can scrounge from your freezer.



Multi-step dishes become a lot simpler when you simply defrost some of the steps. Save all your gravy, no matter how little you think you have. Even a small amount will make a good base for more gravy or sauces.



Any mashed root veggies freeze well and you can use them as toppers for casseroles.



For my Shepherd's Pie I used some leftover Chicken and Turkey Gravy. I wanted to empty out some of the leftovers out of my freezer before I start piling in new leftovers from the upcoming holiday meals. Even though I'm using ground beef, these gravies will still work. I added a bit of Worcestershire sauce and the leftover gravy into the pan where I had browned the onions and beef. I heated it until it bubbled and thickened a bit more. I would have mixed some cornstarch with a bit of water if it was too thin but today that wasn't necessary.



I used leftover mashed potatoes, potato scooped out to make double stuffed potatoes and leftover potato parsnip mash for the topping for my pie. Defrost and mix them together. I used a frozen mix of veggies; broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peas and corn for the middle. So the only real work I had at prep time was to dice the onion and brown it with the ground beef.



You could also use any leftover beef bits you have instead of ground. That's how the dish was originally made. Sometimes you get tired of eating the leftovers. That's when it's time to freeze what's left. You can do this pie with beef or even your leftover chicken, turkey or pork. I'm telling you now, come those cold January nights you'll be glad to have these comfort foods to throw together a casserole. And if you cook like I do, you'll have make one to eat now and one to put in the freezer for another night!

2010 Vancouver Olympics Menu, Meal Ideas and Recipes

As promised here is my menu for the Olympics. I have chosen to stick with countries in the northern hemisphere. There were so many to choice from that I had to set some criteria. So I chose countries that are having winter as we watch the winter Olympics. And I didn't want to do anything too spicy because I have discovered that when I eat spicy I get really cold a little while after and this is no time of year to reduce your internal body temperature. I will save those spicy recipes from those spicy countries for my World Cup menu this summer! That'll be big fun!

I found that most of the cold weather countries have meat and potato type diets. I know this was not rocket science but my research into "official national dishes" confirmed it. It was hard not to have potatoes every night! I am trying to mix it up as best as I can. This menu can best be described as comfort food. But as most of us curl up by a fire or under a blanket to watch the games I'm guessing warming comfort foods are a pretty good idea.

I'll keep this as the master list. Even when I make a recipe after this posting, I'll come back here and link it to the recipe so you can use this as the Olympics Index! See if there is something that tickles your fancy and then click on the link to check out the recipe.

2010 Vancouver Olympics Menu

Friday, Feb 12 - Belguim - Mussels and Bread ( you can do fries but I already have more potato meals planned then usual)
Sat, Feb 13 - Poland - Perogies and Kielbasa
Sun, Feb 14 - China - (Valentine's day and Chinese New Year!) Chinese Noodle and Pork Soup - I went out instead for Chinese! See the restaurant review for Fan's Restaurant.
Mon, Feb 15 - Spain - Paella
Tues, Feb 16 - Great Britain - Shepherd's Pie
Weds, Feb 17 - Japan - Teriyaki Salmon, Veg and Rice
Thurs, Feb 18 - Italy - Pasta and Ragu
Fri, Feb 19 - USA - Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries
Sat, Feb 20 - Switzerland - Cheese Fondue with Veggies and Bread
Sun, Feb 21 - Austria - Goulash
Mon, Feb 22 - Greece - Stuffed Peppers
Tues, Feb 23 - France - French Onion Soup
Weds, Feb 24 - Sweden - Swedish Meatballs
Thurs, Feb 25 - Canada - Mac and Cheese
Fri, Feb 26 - Germany - Wiener Schnitzel and Spatzle
Sat, Feb 27 - Korea - Bulgogi (Beef BBQ served in Lettuce Leaves)
Sun, Feb 28 - Norway - Fiskboller (Fish Balls)

I'm pretty excited! I might not have each meal on the exact night I have listed here. I can't be that strict, it depends on what I feel like! Go Canada Go!!